Adjustable width garment hanger



July 10, 1956 J. J. WHALEN ADJUSTABLE WIDTH GARMENT HANGER Filed Aug. 16, 1954 FIG. I

FIG. 2

JO$PH J. WHALEN IN V EN TOR.

ATTORNEY ADJUSTABLE WIDTH GARMENT HANGER Joseph J. Whalen, Oklahoma City, Okla. Application August 16, 1954, Serial No. 450,109

3 Claims. (Cl. 223-89) The present invention relates to garment hangers, and more particularly to a coat hanger that is adapted for supporting mens trousers, or the like, by the cufis.

Conventional garment hangers usually have a horizontal lower bar, two upwardly slanting converging shoulder supports twisted together adjacent their juncture, and an upwardly extending arcuately curved open-ended hook for hanging over a garment hanging rod. These conventional hangers have the primary objection of causing a crease in the trousers when hung over this horizontal bar of the hanger. Some hangers have been equipped with a piece of curved cardboard placed over this horizontal bar to prevent creases in the trousers when hanging in the closet. These cardboard protectors frequently fall 011 or become lost and further cause a bulky arrangement of the trousers and accompanying coat, thus taking up more space in the clothes closet.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a hanger for engaging only the cuffs of trousers and so constructed that it is adjustable with relation to the width of the trouser cufis to be hung thereon, and permitting the trousers to hang straight downwardly therebelow.

A similar important object is to provide a hanger which will grip only the inside of the cuff of the trousers to be hung thereon and hold or suspend the trousers in a vertical position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hanger which will tend to assist in allowing the creases to re-form in the trousers when hung from this hanger.

A similarly important object of this invention is to provide an adjustable garment hanger that may be easily adjusted to hang either boys or mens trousers in connection with the coat thereon.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying single sheet of drawings, wherein:

Figure l is an elevational view of the device; and,

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the device, detailing one portion of the hanger.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in those figures of the drawings in which they occur.

In the drawings:

Reference numeral 1 indicates the device as a whole, having the general configuration of a conventional coat hanger.

In carrying out the invention, two wires 3 and 4 are joined together adjacent their ends by twisting, as indicated by the reference numeral 5. One end of the Wire 3 extends upwardly beyond the twisted portion 5 and is arcuately curved to form an open-ended hook 6 for hanging over a nail or clothes closet rod, not shown. The two wires 3 and 4 project laterally, outwardly and downwardly on opposite sides from the hook 6 to provide coat shoulder supporting members 7 and 8 and are deformed to form arcuately curved ends, as indicated by the reference numerals 9 and 10, and extend inwardly to form a horizontal bar 11 of the wire 3 and a horizontal bar 12 of the nited States Patent 0 wire 4. The bars 11 and 12 are horizontally juxtaposed in parallel alignment below the hook 6 and the shoulder supporting members 7 and 8. The wires 3 and 4 and their horizontal bars 11 and 12, all lie in substantially a common plane. The horizontal bar 11 of the wire 3 has its free end doubled back upon itself a selected distance, forming a closed looped end 13 adjacent the curved end 10. The free end is wrapped or helically wound around a portion of the horizontal bar 11 and the adjacent horizontal bar 12 of the wire 8, as at 14, at a centrally selected point between the two arcuately curved ends 9 and 10. The looped portion of the bar 11 is bent upwardly adjacent the convolutions 14 toward the hook 6 a selected distance, forming a pair of cufl supports A comprising upwardly diverging aligned single wire loops 15 and 16 (Fig. 2). The loops 15 and 16 extend upwardly above the horizontal bar 12 a selected distance substantially higher than the depth of a mans trouser cutf 17, for the purposes more fully described hereinbelow. The laterally outwardly extending ends of the loops 15 and 16 are re spectively defined by integral downwardly converging legs 18 and 19 substantially perpendicular with relation to the horizontal bar 12. These legs 18 and 19 converge toward and are deformed to substantially envelop a circumferential portion of the bar 12, as at 20, and extend vertically therebelow in juxtaposition a comparatively short distance, and are then bent laterally at right angles, as at 21, in spaced parallel relation below the bar 12, forming a short horizontal extent 22 terminating in an abrupt end 23 perpendicularly disposed with relation to the bar 12 and with the closed loop end 13 enveloping the bar 12 at a second place.

Similarly the free end of the horizontal bar 12 of the wire 4 is similarly doubled back upon itself to form a loop end 25 adjacent the curved end 9.

The free end is similarly wrapped or wound around a portion of the horizontal bar 12 and the adjacent horizontal bar 11, as at 26, at a centrally selected point in spacedapart relation with the convolutions 14. Similarly the looped portion of the bar 12 is then deformed into a pair of cuff supports B comprising upwardly diverging aligned single Wire loops having a pair of outwardly disposed converging legs slidably enveloping the horizontal bar 11 in a similar manner, as disclosed hereinabove for the looped portion of the bar 11. One of these single wire loops and its integral leg is shown in Fig. 1 and are indicated by the reference numerals 27 and 28, respectively.

Operation In operation the hanger is manually flexed between relatively laterally expanded and contracted positions, as shown in dotted lines (Fig. 1), to position the oppositely disposed pairs of trouser culf support loops A and B to approximately fit the cuifs of a particular pair of trousers by an opposing pull or push on the curved ends 9 and 10. This opposing manually applied pressure resiliently slides the pairs of cult supports A and B along the horizontal bars 11 and 12 toward or away from each other. Opposing pulls, for example, on the curved ends 9 and 10 slides the pairs of cuff supports A and B toward each other in the central portion between the ends 9 and 10 of the hanger, as is shown in dotted lines (Fig. 1). After spacing the cuff supports A and B to engage the cutf 17 of a trouser leg, the cuff 17 is placed over one loop 16 and 27 of each pair of cult supports A and B upwardly extending from one side of the horizontal bars 11 and 12, and the cuif of the other leg, not shown, is placed upon the other loops of each pair of the opposite upwardly extending cuif supports A and B. Then the pairs of cult support legs 18-49 and 28 are brought into positive contact with the inside of the crease of the cuffs by compressing the hanger, which is accomplished by manually pushing the ends 9 and 10 toward each other, sliding the convolutions 14 and 26 on the horizontal bars 11 and 12. This tightens the pairs of loops of the cuff supports A and B within the cuff Fl and allows the trousers to hang vertically therefrom; The coat may be then placed upon the shouldersupports of the hanger in a conventional manner, as desired.

Obviously the invention is susceptible to some change or alteration without defeating its practicability, and I therefore do not Wish tobe confined to the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings and described herein, further than I am-limited bythe scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1 An adjustable width garment hanger, comprising: an open-ended hook for supporting said hanger terminating at one end in separate single strands projecting laterally, downwardly and outwardly on opposite sides of said hook forming shoulder supporting members, said members each deformed in spaced-apart relation to define arcuately curved hanger ends, and extending inward-- ly from said curved ends to provide horizontally aligned support bars; the free end of each said bar doubledback upon itself a selected distance to form a loop adjacent. each said curved end; said free ends slidably connected in spaced-apart relation to said horizontally aligned bars; each said loop bent adjacent its connected end to form upwardly diverging single wire loops above the adjacenthorizontal bar in spaced-apart relation, said single loops terminating in oppositely disposed downwardly converging legs for holding trouser cuffs, said legs deformed forcontiguously slidably contacting substantially all of the superficial circumference of the adjacent horizontal bar and extending outwardly therebelow in horizontal parallel relation with said horizontal bar, terminating in the closed end of said first loop; and, the closed end of said first loop deformed to slidably contiguously contact substantially all of the circumferential extent of the adjacent horizontal bar permitting said hanger to be resiliently flexed between relatively laterally expanded and contracted positions.

2. An adjustable width garmenthanger having downwardly diverging shoulder supporting members connected by horizontal bar means adapted for supporting trousers or similar garments, by the cuff, said means comprising: a pair of single Wire members integrally connected to said shoulder supporting members and extending inwardly forming horizontal portions in aligned relationship; the free end of each of said wire members doubled back upon itself a selected distance to form a loop; said free ends slidably connected in spaced-apart relation to said horizontally aligned portions; and each said loop deformed intermediate its ends: providing a pair of aligned upwardly diverging single wire loops and having outwardly facing downwardly converging legs perpendicular to the adjacent horizontal wire member, whereby said pairs of single Wire loops may be resiliently flexed between relatively laterally expanded and contracted positions.

3. An adjustable width garment hanger, comprising: an open-ended hook terminating at one end in separate single strands projecting laterally outwardly and downwardly on opposite sides of said hook forming shoulder supporting-members said members each arcuately curved and extending inwardly providing horizontal aligned bars; the free-end of eachsaid bar doubled back upon itself a selected distance forming a loop; said free ends frictionally connected in spaced-apart relation to said horizontal aligned bars; each said loop deformed intermediate its ends providing two laterally spaced-apart pairs of aligned upwardly diverging single' wire member loops, said=- single loopshaving outwardly facing downwardly converging legs perpendicular to'said horizontally aligned barsfor holding a trouser cuif; and; said legseach cooperatingly deformed intermediate their ends to slidably. and contiguousl'y contact the adjacent horizontally alignedba-r, whereby the said pairs of single'wire member loops may be resiliently adjustably spaced apart between relativelylaterally expanded or contracted positions.

ReferencesCited in the file-of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS- 1,598;747 Scharles Sept. 7, 1926 2,360,119 Gallagher Oct. 10, 1944 2353 1293 Paulsen Nov. 21, 1950 2,547,436- Brock Apr. 13, 1951 2,5'49;500 McClain Apr. 17, 1951' 

